Modern Supercars Are Too Fast For The Nurburgring, Says Walter Rohrl
Modern supercars are getting too fast for the Nurburgring, says rally ace and general Porsche legend Walter Rohrl.
The man who famously said “a car is just fast enough when you stand in front of it in the morning and are afraid to unlock it” is no stranger to speed, being Porsche’s development driver, twice World Rally Champion and the very man who coached the other Matt at the launch of the latest GT3.
When the 70-year-old says something is too fast, it’s probably wise to listen. Speaking about some of the faster sections of the Nurburgring, where the 911 GT2 recently set a truly bonkers 6m47.3s lap, he pointed out the absolute lack of margin for error.
“You have no room for mistakes, that’s the bad thing. On the speeds like in [the GT2], you go Schwedenkreuz at 183mph and Fuchsrohre at 168mph, and I know all the accidents which have been on these places in the last 20 years.”
Fuchsrohre saw a huge crash for Koenigsegg in 2016, when an ABS sensor failed at high speed on a One:1 as the company went for a lap record.
Rohrl says the lack of downforce relative to modern supercars’ speed capabilities means they’re just not safe enough. The 911 GT2 produces up to 416kg, way more than most supercars, but much less than less powerful racing cars that lap the Green Hell in around the same sort of times.
He also says that the increasing risk is not why he’s given up his own quests for lap times on the famous Nordschleife. Apparently, it’s actually because increasing Autobahn traffic has doubled his commute…
Source: Drive.com.au
Comments
I think it’s good that companies are pushing the limits of vehicular technology. However it does produce expectations as kids think anything with less than 400HP is slow. As for safety, I totally agree. Cars are just becoming too fast for their own good.
This is like modern Group B
Only difference? These cars can be bought by any idiot with some cash….
Rohrl once said that driving the previous gen gt2 on a wet nurburgring was one of the scariest moments of his life. This is coming from a man that drove over 350km/h on lemans and drove pikes peak back when it had no guardrails at all.
Got goosebumps reading your text. I’m pretty sure that at least 90% of the drivers of pikes peak wouldn’t drive it if there were no guardrails or tarmac…
Walter Röhrl is a true legend and also down to earth still.
When you can’t be arsed to drive to the ring and set lap times you know your life’s gone well
still waiting for the 956 record to be beaten
A deristricted gt3 can probably come close to it but a lmp proto would definitly beat it
I reckon the Mercedes Project One or Aston Martin Valkyrie might have a shot at that. I reckon the Koenigsegg One:1 can do under 6:30 in the right hands and on the right tyres, and it’s got way less downforce than those two cars.
It’s going to be hard without having perfect exterior conditions, perfect temperature, and perfect knowledge of both the track and the car.
its astonishing how this beast grips on the ground even on downhill terain
Honestly, I could watch onboard-cameras all day around this track. Just the memorization alone for each corner is impressive yet alone the speed he was doing it at though it appeared he wasn’t pushing the car to its full potential around certain low speed corners where the mechanical grip had more than enough control
So I guess putting the Valkyrie on the ring would be too much?
Porsche have the Nurburgring lap record, what do they do? Try to make sure other companies can’t get a chance at breaking it.
Instead of horsepower wars from back in the 60’s and 70’s, we’re having hot lap wars….
I prefer lap wars!
Murica definitely hasn’t stopped the horsepower wars though
Friendly reminder to all those who can’t quite grasp what a 6:47 at the Nordschleife means, this is another car that got the same laptime.
Holy shit. Thanks for the scale.
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